Recommendation 34

HM Government · verbatim extract Not Addressed

UNDER REVIEW The government will keep the Committee’s suggestion under review. We will explore which other sectors and occupations would be most suitable for foundation apprenticeships, including hospitality and retail. A health and social care foundation apprenticeship has already been introduced. The rate of young people’s apprenticeship starts has fallen dramatically over the last decade – by almost 40% since the 2015/16 academic year. This governments want to rebalance the programme back towards young people beginning their careers. In August 2025, the government introduced new foundation apprenticeships, which are jobs with training, giving young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. The government expects this to drive up to 30,000 foundation apprenticeship starts across this Parliament. The initial focus for foundation apprenticeships was on industrial strategy and priority areas including health and social care, construction and the built environment, engineering and manufacturing, and digital. This offer has been developed to meet the needs of employers as well as young people. Foundation apprenticeships will ensure that training is directed towards real vacancies and staff shortage areas and offer young people a broad grounding in a sector before they commit to progress into a more specific or more advanced occupation. The onsite trades foundation apprenticeship, for example, provides a broad grounding in onsite construction equipping apprentices with skills in bricklaying, carpentry, joinery and plastering. Following completion, it is expected that apprentices will specialise in one of these occupations and progress to the relevant apprenticeship. Each foundation apprenticeship is mapped to a range of specialist occupations that foundation apprentices can progress on to. These are set out in each foundation apprenticeship standard and are available on Skills England’s website. The Department for Work and Pensions is working closely with Skills England to support communications and raise awareness of foundation apprenticeships among employers, providers, and young people. The Department for Work and Pensions is also working with Skills England to explore which other sectors and occupations would be most suitable for foundation apprenticeships. Further detail will be set out in due course.